Artist sues Yuengling in Oktoberfest label dispute

Graphic artist claims brewer has not paid him for work on its new Oktoberfest product.

This Yuengling beer label that allegedly infringes on a New Jersey graphic… (CONTRIBUTED IMAGE )

August 02, 2012|By Peter Hall, Of The Morning Call

A graphic artist who helped create Yuengling beer's modern identity has sued the Pottsville-based beer maker, claiming he was never paid for his work on its latest product.

The lawsuit comes as D.G. Yuengling & Son Inc. prepares this month to ship cases and kegs of its Oktoberfest beer, a new seasonal brew hotly anticipated by beer aficionados around the nation.

Freelance graphic designer Adam D'Addario of Voorhees, N.J., claims in his federal copyright infringement lawsuit that the labels, packaging and beer tap handles for the new variety closely resemble a design he proposed in 2010 and for which CEO Dick Yuengling Jr. has refused to pay.

The suit in U.S. District Court in Harrisburg says D'Addario has requested payment for the design for more than a year, but the company has not responded.

"Indeed, management and staff are instructed not to mention plaintiff's demand to [Dick] Yuengling Jr. in any way," the suit says.

D'Addario claims the offending labels are now on about $14 million worth of beer. If his suit is successful, he would be entitled under federal copyright law to at least a portion of Yuengling's profit in addition to the $80,000 he alleges the company owes him for his design work, said his lawyer, John Crossan of Chicago.

In addition to his fee, D'Addario seeks $150,000 in damages and a court order barring Yuengling from using his design.

Calls to Yuengling's headquarters Wednesday in Pottsville were not immediately returned.

D'Addario said Wednesday the dispute is a bitter end to a two-decade relationship with Yuengling that ended suddenly when the company hired in-house graphic designers about two years ago.

Formerly the head of a New York design firm, D'Addario said he was hired in 1990 to create a new identify for the company as it sought to reposition its product as an upscale brand and expand its distribution beyond central Pennsylvania.

"All the wholesalers said the packaging looks like it's from the 1950s," D'Addario said. "You have to redesign your packaging."

D'Addario worked with Yuengling, which touts itself America's oldest brewery, to update its image while preserving the family-owned company's heritage, including the iconic eagle that adorns most of its labels.

It has since grown from a small regional brewery into the largest American-owned beer maker, last year surpassing Boston Beer, which makes Samuel Adams.

Yuengling sold 2.5 million barrels of beer in 2011, up 17 percent from the previous year, according to Beer Marketer's Insights in Suffern, N.Y., a magazine that tracks the beer industry. Boston Beer sold 2.4 million barrels in 2011, the magazine estimated.

D'Addario said he became aware of the alleged infringement when he saw a photo of Yuengling's new Oktoberfest label on the beer news website mybeerbuzz.com.

"When I saw it in the press, I was so taken aback. I was like, That's my design," D'Addario said.

Crossan says Yuengling used his client's design with only two minor changes.

In Yuengling's version of the label, the word "Oktoberfest" curves slightly; it runs straight across the bottle in D'Addario's design. Yuengling's version also includes the words "seasonal beer" below the word Oktoberfest.

Both D'Addario's and Yuengling's version use the familiar "Yuengling" script and eagle logos and use an old English-style font for the word Oktoberfest.

While elements of the design are borrowed from other Yuengling labels, the company does not own the copyright to the artwork, Crossan said.

"They should not be carried off into another label that Adam is not involved in," he said.